The Review

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Monday, March 19, 2018

CHICAGO — Like Chicago’s downtown on St. Patrick’s Day weekend, a river of green has flowed through TV sets ahead of Tuesday’s primary vote, as governor candidates have spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising during the long campaign.

The frenzied final weekend of in-person campaigning supplements the nearly $65.7 million spent by governor candidates and interest groups on TV commercials so far. The contest could become the most expensive race to be Illinois’ chief executive in state history.

That TV spending total -- in just the primary -- is more than the record $65.3 million Republican Gov. Bruce Rauner spent on his entire 2014 campaign.

Democratic candidate J.B. Pritzker, a billionaire heir to the Hyatt Hotel fortune who has put a record $69.5 million into his bid, has spent nearly $33.5 million on TV advertising, according to a study by Advertising Analytics for NBC News. He has used the spots to try to introduce himself to voters in his first statewide campaign and attack his lesser-funded opponents.

Asked on Sunday how much more money he would be willing to spend should he win the Democratic nomination, Prizker said he wasn’t sure but that “whatever it is, I would say Illinois is worth it.”

Comments

CHICAGO — Like Chicago’s downtown on St. Patrick’s Day weekend, a river of green has flowed through TV sets ahead of Tuesday’s primary vote, as governor candidates have spent tens of millions of dollars on advertising during the long campaign.

The frenzied final weekend of in-person campaigning supplements the nearly $65.7 million spent by governor candidates and interest groups on TV commercials so far. The contest could become the most expensive race to be Illinois’ chief executive in state history.